Timeline for Special Dances

kw44932 · September 2012

Hi everyone! I met with my DJ, and he suggested doing the first dance when we first get introduced, and then waiting until after the cake cutting to do the father/daughter and mother/son dances, to give the guests something to watch while the staff cuts the cake. I think it's weird to wait so long, as we'll be getting introduced at 7 and cake cutting is at 9 or 9:30.

My original thought was to do our first dance when we get introduced, have dinner (it's a buffet), and when everyone is pretty much done then we can do our special dances and open the dance floor for a little bit before the cake cutting. I feel like if we wait to do the special dances, our guests may be hesitant to get up to dance between dinner and cake cutting.

Which would you go with?

Avion22 · September 2012

We did a combo father-daughter/mother-son dance (we danced to the first half, and they danced to the second half with us joining back in at the very end of the song). It was short enough that we just did it right after our first dance, and the whole thing took about 6 minutes. We did it after dinner, before dessert.

DramaGeek · September 2012

We only had a first dance and father-daugter dance, so we did everything right after we were introduced. We did things differently though - we were introduced toward the end of dinner (we also had a buffet and we were the last ones through the buffet so we could say hello to everyone as they went through the line) and went from our introduction into cake cutting, then to our first dance, I think. I think we did it that way so people could eat cake while we danced. We did the father-daughter dance right after that and then opened the dance floor for the rest of the night.

mrskristinyc · September 2012

We're doing the ceremonial/picture part of cake cutting before dinner, the the staff is taking it back to the kitchen to cut up while we're all eating dinner. That way no one has to wait around for cake.

Meegles4 · September 2012

We also cut the cake immediately upon being announced and arriving at the reception, so I assume the cake was cut by the staff during dinner. Then, after dinner we started the dances and did our dance, father/daughter, aunt/nephew. After that, the DJ invited us onto the floor to start a couples dance and that's how the dance floor opened up.

KellyBrian2013 · September 2012

We also cut the cake immediately after being announced into the reception and then we were seated for toasts and dinner to be served. The cake was cut during dinner and put out later for a selveserve cake, coffee, and cordials bar. We did our first dances after we finished eating and then opened the dancefloor up for the night.

daveANDkristen · September 2012

We were introduced, then MOH/BM toasts, then dinner (we were first to eat). By the time we were finished eating, the last few guests were going through the buffet line, so this is when we cut the cake (once everyone was seated and eating dinner). A few minutes after that we did our first dance, F/D dance, M/S dance, then WP dance (I know a lot of people hate WP dances, but ours actually wanted to do it - as in most of them asked if they got to do it, we did not ask them so they wouldn't feel obligated). We opened the dancefloor up to everyone halfway through the WP dance. I don't think the timing you suggested would be a problem, just maybe a little untraditional.